If you can't beat it, heritage list it

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A Sydney Harbour lobby group and the State Opposition are hoping to thwart plans for a 14-storey office tower on the cliff tops above Luna Park, by having the famous amusement park listed on the NSW and federal heritage registers.

Luna Park is not on the State Heritage Register, although parts of the site are listed on North Sydney Council's heritage controls.

Now the Protectors of Sydney Foreshore and the Opposition want the whole site - including the adjacent cliffs - listed on the State Heritage Register and the National Heritage List.

The Opposition's planning spokeswoman, Peta Seaton, said heritage listing of the site could force the park's owners to cut 12 storeys from the planned tower.

"If the Carr Government stuck to the Luna Park plan of management that states buildings should be no higher than two storeys on the cliff top site, it would not be necessary to seek protection from heritage authorities," she said.

The 1998 plan allowed for "low-rise commercial buildings which assist in ensuring viability but do not detract from the amenity of the area".

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Luna Park's managing director, Peter Hearne, said the tower was needed to ensure the park, which has had a troubled history since the fatal ghost train fire in 1979, remained open.

"The land on top of the cliff was made available by the Government, with the support of the Opposition, when they amended the legislation for commercial development to assist in the long-term viability of Luna Park," Mr Hearne said.

In March, the planning minister, Craig Knowles, commissioned an "independent expert committee" to review the controls that should apply to the site. It has now finished its report and forwarded it to the minister, although a spokesman for Mr Knowles said he hasn't seen it yet.

The Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, which owns the site, said earlier this year that the committee's recommendations would be "subject to public comment".

Even if the heritage applications succeed, which is far from automatic given that the NSW Government has to approve any listing on the State Heritage Register, it would not exclude changes to a listed site. Heritage Office of NSW guidelines say changes to listed sites are permitted provided they "do not detract from the heritage significance of the listed items".